Unlikelihoods in the reports of "Apache helicopter formations"

copyright Jonah Ohayv, June 28, 2006

Reports have been recently widely circulated about Apache helicopters being directly involved 2 and 3 years ago in the formation of two crop circles. We have here very significant, very widely spread (and therefore deeply influential), and suddenly revealed reports in 2006, about formations back in 2003 and 2004. The lightning publicity of these reports between June 6th and June 16th, 2006 has been stupendous.

I therefore assume most readers are familiar with one or more of these reports, and I will be comparing those from popular internet-sources, named with their locations at the end of this article and referred to as I proceed.

The world-view about crop-circles of trusting, but little-questioning readers must be shaken by testimony that a) the military uses mobile equipment which radiates light and induces steam from crops, where a crop-circle is discovered seconds later, and b) that a helicopter spins slowly in periods of a couple minutes, emanating a blue-white glow from its underside, and a crop-circle appears beneath it.

We owe it to ourselves to do a little detective work, no matter who the identity of the reports' author would be. We should use intelligent common sense to see if the content of the articles makes consistent sense. Not just accept or reject their content because it pleases or displeases what we'd emotionally like to believe.

After all, no documentation besides hindsight testimony long after-the-fact is presented, and no other eye-witnesses to similar incidents have made similar claims in the intervening years.

The author repeatedly urges us to withstand and uncover disinformation, so for the sake of a fair trial, we must investigate if this too might indeed be such a case. In comparing the fullest reports in sources 2 and 4, I have discovered a number of inconsistencies.

1. Time and location.

(Source 4) The Woodborough Bridge formation is said to be formed between 10:30 and 10:41 in the morning. Two very loud, large, fully-armed helicopters are said to have appeared and quickly spotted the author, one flying toward him. The second pointed a tube at the ground, from which an explosive updraft of hissing steam arose, leaving a crop-circle. Meanwhile the first had made several low-level passes, "perhaps in order to distract me from observing his colleague".

Woodborough Bridge is in the center of "crop-circle country", and 10:30 is a time when many croppies will be active in the fields. The military has repeatedly denied direct involvement with crop-circles, but at this time and location, noisy involvement of this sort would be almost sure to be seen and perhaps even filmed by someone. This would disprove everything they've said for years. It would be like an open advertizement of the military's creating crop-circles or recording them under creation at the distance of a few feet ("ground level"). And if the military wants us to know this, why have there been no more witnesses' examples since 2003 - excepting only one by the same author in 2004?

Since the helicopters were quickly aware of his presence, it makes little sense that one would then try to primitively distract him from seeing what was happening. The author later suggests that these may not have been military helicopers - who else is allowed to fly around fully armed in the Pewsey area?

2. Discrepancy in story variations.

In the Golden Ball Hill formation story of source 2, one reads,

"Looking through the night scope I could now clearly observe what was to be subsequently called the ‘dolphin’ crop formation, in what appeared to be a state of completeness. The time was precisely 02.40 hours... Because of the possible radiation risk, I decided not to enter the formation immediately and instead walked down to the foot of Golden Ball Hill to obtain a closer view from behind the fence. Again, through the night scope it was possible to confirm the presence of the formation, which was situated approximately 50 - 70 yards inside the field. I decided to resume my sky watch from the summit of Knap Hill from which position I was able to closely observe the formation through the night-vision scope until dawn, when I could without doubt confirm that it was in a completed state. Nothing more of an unusual nature occurred and I returned to my car at about 06.30 hrs." This ends the direct account.

In the Golden Ball Hill formation story of source 4, one reads,

"As far as I could see, the formation was in a state of completeness... the time now being 02.40 hrs. Still recovering from the shock and excitement of witnessing such an unusual event... I continued to skywatch until dawn, when I was able to confirm the presence of the formation which was situated about 100 yards inside the field between Golden Ball and Knap Hill. I was immediately able to enter and record the formation and had an interesting conversation with the estate manager / farmer regarding the crop circle phenomenon.

The formation was extremely impressive at ground level and had many outstanding features including delicately woven standing centres and a beautiful ground lay. There was very little evidence of damage to the crop stems and seed heads or use of stomping boards or other mechanical equipment being used." This ends the direct account.
Doesn't this sound like two different endings?

Immediate entrance? An interesting conversation with the farmer before 6:30 A.M.? What about the radiation risk? Source 2 was the longer, full report - why not there mention any entrance, interesting talk, and close examination of an impressive lay?

3. What's been documented?

The author writes (source 4) that, "Some of this incident was captured on film...", and specifically, "With my video camera now deployed, I ran down the track in order to obtain a clearer view of the incident. Almost immediately, the helicopter carrying the sphere-like apparatus swiftly gained altitude and moved off...". I suppose that if he'd filmed any part of the crop-circle's creation, or even a helicopter and this crop circle together, he'd both mention this and publicly show his spectacular "catch". It thus seems that he's only documented flying helicopters, which is not particularly unusual or impressive.

4. Crop-circle placement.

Assuming these reports to be entirely true, the placement of the Golden Ball Hill crop-circle rules out its direct creation by the helicopter.

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photos by Lucy Pringle

Notice in Lucy Pringle's above two top photos from www.lucypringle.co.uk/photos/2004/uk2004br.shtml, that the 4 tips of the dolphins' fins exactly touch tramlines as does the intersection of the 4 central semi-circles. This would not be accomplished by a quickly descending, repeatedly spinning helicopter, but by a stationary or aligned source after precise aiming.

5. Missing time.

(Source 4) "At this point I distinctly remember checking the time-clock on my video camera which read 10.41 hrs. What happened next is still not entirely clear because the last thing I remember is noticing a new crop formation [the Woodborough Bridge formation] precisely where the second helicopter had been hovering... The following forty-five minutes were completely lost to me, because at 11.30 hrs I again found myself standing on the summit of Woodborough Hill without any memory of having walked to the hill from the canal bridge. Interestingly, the time-clock on my video camera inexplicably 'jumps' from 10.41 hrs to 11.24 hrs in a single frame. This is definitely not an edit or as a result of having paused or stopping the camera. The time-clock had been accurately set and tested three weeks previously and I had installed a new lithium battery."

Either he's distractedly both stopped and later restarted his camera, whereby the next photographed frame would naturally show the new, advanced time - revealing a lack of observational clarity.

Or both his clock and memory have totally blanked out 43 minutes, starting precisely when the helicopters flew off, and we have what Ufologists call "missing time" - which heavily implies that the spill-over energy from usage of the helicopter's exotic equipment plus the new crop circle induced this miracle-like anomaly. The reported black-out of his equipment and mind is a more exteme variation of the well-known effects crop-circle energies can have by draining batteries, temporarily disorienting visitors' logical abilities and the like. So this latter interpretation implies that military technology can also be a cause of (take credit for, explain) such mysterious phenomena too.

6. Inconsistencies regarding the military.

Despite accusing the military of running a long-range massive campaign of cover-ups and disinformation, there seems to be a noteworthy familiarity with military equipment, procedures, and insider strategy. What exactly is the author's connection to the military?

Here are some descriptions from the reports: -"I could make out the familiar silhouettes of two Apache Longbow army helicopters which I assumed would fly below me on their way to the military ranges on Salisbury Plain a few miles away to the south... They appeared to be Apache Longbow 'gunships' as deployed by the Army Air Corps... two very large helicopters appeared, black in colour with no obvious markings or serial numbers, and fully armed.. the pilots extinguished all navigation and cabin lights and assumed ‘stealth mode’ where the engine noise is cut. All that could now be heard was a very low level swishing and reverberation from the rotor blades... I would be easily spotted by the Apache’s sophisticated heat-sensitive and night-vision avionics..."

And from his e-mail to me June 20th: "My research suggests that certain agencies do have the technology to create these ground markings and it may be worthwhile for you to browse the many military websites referring to direct energy weapons technology, specifically topographic engineering programmes."

In source 2, the author says, "Over the past 20 years I have as a result of my research and investigations, forged important contacts within the Ministry of Defence...and have been left with little doubt that there exists a massive cover-up and disinformation campaign. Disinformation is an extremely powerful tool in the hands of authority, which can be spread utilising insiders and informants strategically placed within the research community known as ‘sleeper agents’. One of my tasks is to uncover the identity of such individuals. Naivety and gullibility are personality traits all too often manifested within the research community..."

But how does he know this (source 2)? - "The authorities, including the British Ministry of Defence have a remit to deny the existence of unexplained phenomena such as crop circles and UFOs, on the grounds of national security. Any unexplained intrusion of our ground and air space is considered hostile unless proved otherwise."

So here's his own astounding conclusion in his closing paragraph: "We should remind ourselves that we are dealing with largely unexplained phenomena whose origin are unknown, whether complicit or not with the authorities, but whose presence could represent a hostile threat to our defence systems and our society." To whoever knows much about crop-circles, or who trusts their eyes or intuition when seeing these harmonious symbols, the idea of crop-circles representing a hostile threat to our (national) defense systems - or to our society as a whole - is absolutely absurd! Only the military can believe this.

He directly continues, "For this reason I would advise extreme caution by researchers and members of the public when dealing with this phenomenon at close range, and particularly to heed warnings and take precautions against the potentially dangerous energies occasionally deployed in the creation of some crop formations." The word "particularly" implies that there's indeed something besides these energies to fear. To advise us to use extreme caution when visiting crop-circles altogether, is not far from advising us to just stay away.

7. Why the time-lag between the incidents and their reporting?

Before deciding to write this article, I e-mailed the author June 19th and asked him why he waited for years to publicize his stories. The next day he replied, "I delayed publishing this information because since I have been researching both the UFO and crop-circle subjects for over twenty years my activities have been closely monitored by certain agencies, probably linked to the ministry of defence...Naturally, I am more than a little concerned as to how my articles will be received, but I do think it very important that this information is made available to a wider audience."

The next day again, I wrote, "Re. my question of why you waited so long and until exactly now... - the "because" does not seem to answer my question. Everybody much involved in this subject is monitored, me too. What have you feared the military would do to you, when you published this? And why wait so long, and then decide just now? Please re-read my e-mail and reply again." Two days later, I tried again, but received no replies.

8. Bearcloud's conclusions.

The author must be aware that Bearcloud clearly supposed that those he met were indeed hoaxers of the Golden Ball Hill formation. (Source 5a opening sentence) "Going out on a nite watch and encountering people returning from having created a glyph early one morning, gave me cause to reflect on my views of the Star glyphs." (5b) "This is why the Star Nations wanted me to see the man-made one at Golden Ball Hill this year." 5c) "It is particularly important to me, as the older glyph happened to be the one that I felt I had caught a team of people returning to their cars, after having made it."

Mr. Buckley has been keenly aware that due to this, the majority of the crop-circle community then likewise adopted the same conclusion, also because of exaggerations of Bearcloud's testimony elsewhere. As he writes, "On the basis of the above incorrect information circulated by various internet websites, thousands if not millions of people have been grossly misinformed about the true origin of this crop formation."

Why has he then allowed these wrong conclusions to go unchallenged for almost 2 years, before coming forward with contradictory testimony?

What effect does the source 4 report have on Bearcloud's growing reputation? There is a long tradition of trying to catch the most prominent crop-circle researchers into declaring a hoaxed circle as genuine, thereby undermining their ruputation and the believability of their work in the popular mind. When an authority is exposed as making a faulty judgement, his or her influence dwindles.

Bearcloud, as an indigenous, artistic researcher with a very spiritual interpretation of crop-circles, is presently a major figure in the crop-circle world. The absolute disproving of his conclusions from his own experience would lessen the weight people would put on his possible future testimonies. As Mr. Buckley writes in source 4, "...it also casts serious doubt on the credibilty of other so-called researchers who claim they saw 'hoaxers' leaving the field in question on the morning of Monday, 26th July 2004, and those who chose to subsequently accept these stories as 'fact'."

9. What would be the advantage to actually planting stories like these in the well-read crop-circle media?

From the military's viewpoint, "damage control".

For instance, in the UFO area, if so many Americans believe, despite any number of governmental reports to dissuade them, that UFOs in fact exist, one can then claim that the military using secret technology experiments with and flies them in Area 51 in Nevada and Arizona. So why not elsewhere too? Then the military is perceived as on top again, eliminating the perceived influence from unknown sources.

10. Precedence.

From his final remarks, "The ‘dolphin’ crop formation, whatever its meaning and purpose together with the controversy surrounding it, can provide a litmus test for future research because incidents of a similar nature will surely happen again..." How on earth can this be a litmus test for research? One thing however we can learn from this example, is that all evidence should be presented promptly. Another is that we should check reports out for logical consistency and completeness. If similar incidents do happen again, I hope there are also other witnesses or that the author gets documentation for them!

Sources:

1.) "Eyewitness states: British Army helicopters were present as crop circle formed in 2004" and "Apache Circles...? 2 black Apache helicopters seemingly interacting as the Woodborough Bridge formation appeared in 2003" was
published by Andrew J. Buckley at http://www.kornsirkler.org/Nytt/2006nytt/2006news.html on April 8, 2006, and publicized via David Kingston's widely read e-mail news-service June 6.

3.) A somewhat different version of the fuller report "Case History
The 'Dolphin' crop formation, Golden Ball Hill, nr Alton Barnes, Wiltshire, 25th July 2004" was published on Lucy Pringle's popular site, at http://www.lucypringle.co.uk/articles/apache/. Jim Lyons' technical comments follow this version. "Case History July 14th 2003, The Woodborough Bridge crop formation" is in the same article on Lucy's site, which was passed on by David Kingston June 16, 2006.